Living in a nerd’s paradise
You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. Confused? We are, sometimes. But that’s because we work in very specialist areas in our B2B working lives, and we don’t pretend to know everything. Our clients are the experts, and we set out to learn absolutely everything we can from them.
From pandemic-beating cleaning chemicals to the wonders of photoluminescence in aerospace, to telling the press how the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures will impact your business, we’re all over it.
If it’s an inch wide and a mile deep, we’re shimmying the full 5,280 feet down to get to the bottom of whatever it is you’re selling. If you’re talking to informed techies, we make sure we get it right. If what you do needs to be translated for a wider audience, we find the words and the creative execution to simplify it in an engaging and meaningful way, and amplify it through the right channels.
But enough about us. Here are a few things we’ve learned along the way from our unique and brilliant clients:
George, Creative Content Manager
Changing the world, one chip at a time
Working with MRL, a specialist recruiter in the semiconductor industry, was fascinating. Everything from AI to electric and self-driving cars are powered by these tiny little chips – they are at the heart of everything we might consider cutting-edge or futuristic. Researching, writing and designing a market report for them in 2019 was captivating.
Delving into driverless railways
I have received no end of stick for it in the office, but I really enjoyed working for a client in the rail industry in 2018/19. Learning about and researching (what was at the time) Europe’s only fully-automated metro system in Copenhagen – which I had actually been on a few months prior! – to the cross-continental mining rail network in Australia really piqued the interests of the little boy in me that adored his Hornby train set.
Emma, Senior Creative Content Executive
Revolutionary ‘nanospike’ technology
Through our partnership with commercial cleaning firm Mrs Buckét, I was introduced to antimicrobial coatings – and who knew I’d be so enthralled by cleaning chemicals! The client’s chosen supplier produces coatings that make it impossible for ‘contaminants’ to settle on the surfaces you’ve treated with it, for up to 90 days post-application.
You simply spray the chemical onto any surface, and then it forms a layer of protective ‘nanospikes’ when it dries. It’s completely invisible and also keeps things looking clean, as well as obviously being far more hygienic.
Natalie, Senior Digital PR and Marketing Executive
Lighting the way with photoluminescence
If you had asked me a year ago if I knew what type of lighting, signage or emergency floor path marking systems aeroplanes need, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you much. But now it’s something I’m very interested in and look out for when I travel.
Since working with STG Aerospace, we have entered the fascinating world of aerospace manufacturing and everything that comes with it, from optimal lighting placement and shade, to the strict requirements and certifications behind the designs. My fiancé rolls his eyes every time we fly because I’m taking pictures of the floor and tutting because it’s not ‘pattern match.’ It gets to you!
James, Associate Director
Remote working and the rise of cybercrime
I’d say I am now the resident cybersecurity expert. It has been fascinating to speak to George Barnes at Hamilton Barnes about the increase in cybercrime during Covid as a result of people working remotely – using personal devices and accessing sensitive data via unsecure wifi network – and the resulting surge in demand for cyber specialists.
Cybercrime rose by 70% in 2021 and businesses are now playing Covid catch-up and trying to fill the void of a shortage of 3.5 million cyber professionals in the current market.
Meg, Senior Account Executive
Learning life lessons in finance
You might not believe me, but I’ve actually really enjoyed learning about tax with Monahans and particularly how sole traders can approach their businesses’ finances to ensure that they don’t get caught out by a huge tax bill.
I never knew that if you are worried about being able to afford a tax bill, HMRC have payment plan options, so you should never bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away! Very valuable life lessons!
Helen, Associate Director
David and Goliath
Ask me anything you want about Plevin claims – go on, go on! Similar to PPI in that it’s a bank mis-selling scandal, this is about the clarity of the commission charged on loans subject to PPI. It’s been great to work with Lysander Law, empowering people to claim what’s rightfully theirs, a ‘David and Goliath’ issue with the banks.
Diversifying data
I’ve also loved working with Rockborne, who are smashing barriers on increasing diversity in the Data and Analytics industry. Their ground-breaking training programme has seen 68 per cent of the scheme’s intake from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to just 25 per cent for the wider data industry.
Meanwhile, more than half (53 per cent) of the intake are women, which is almost double the industry average (28 per cent). One in six (15 per cent) of all applicants have a disability – twice the figure for the data industry as a whole (7 per cent).
As so often happens, the devil’s in the detail. So while we’re shouting things from the rooftops on your behalf, we’re also taking care of the small stuff. And it’s this attention to detail and authenticity which makes for creative, engaging content, and gives us the opportunity to put press stories out there which are news rather than just puff.
